That Dear Octupus
by mandabunny2
Summary: Nosedive's tired of Wildwing always telling him what to do, so he runs away. Rated T just to be safe. This is my first fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fanfiction. I'm not sure how good it is, but hopefully it isn't too bad.

**Disclaimer:** The Mighty Ducks belong to the Walt Disney Corporation, not me.

* * *

"I'm tired of you not listening, Dive. I'm tired of you constantly disregarding the rul… Nosedive, come back here, I'm not done talking to… NOSEDIVE!" Wildwing shouted as the younger mallard walked away from their heated argument.

_But I'm done talking to YOU, _Nosedive thought as he entered his room and flopped down on his bunk. He was done with all of them. Nobody ever did anything but chew him out. Sure, he could get on people's nerves, he knew that. He even expected it with his love of pranks and clowning around. But hadn't he proven himself time and again, both on the ice and in battle?

So what if he'd been an hour late for curfew? He wasn't a duckling anymore, and he wished his team would stop treating him like one.

Especially Wildwing.

His own brother couldn't understand that he needed time for himself, away from the team and the Pond, and a nine-thirty curfew just wouldn't cut it. He didn't have many friends, just Thrash and Mookie, and since they would be gone for a week visiting relatives, why shouldn't he get to spend more time with them tonight? _I __**TOLD **__Wing where I was going,_ Nosedive thought as he punched his pillow, _but he just doesn't __**CARE**__! I'm __**SICK**__ of not having any freedom!_

Nosedive took off his clothes, leaving only his boxers and socks before climbing into bed. He continued brooding until he fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

"Nosedive, come on, wake up," someone whispered into his ear.

Nosedive groaned and rolled over.

"Nosedive…" the duck repeated, shaking Nosedive's shoulder in an attempt to rouse him.

Nosedive opened one eye to see Duke standing over him. He murmured something that sounded like "Snmrnet…" and, closing his eye, snuggled under the covers.

Duke threw back the blanket and sheet and turned on the light. The brightness and chill immediately woke Nosedive up. "Ya wanna try that again, kid?"

The younger duck sat up, rubbing his eyes. "I said it's not morning yet," repeated Nosedive, letting out a big yawn.

"Yeah, well, actually, it is. Five in the morning, to be precise, and Wildwing scheduled a practice session this morning, so ya need to get up." Duke walked through the automatic door out of Nosedive's room. "An' if I have to come back in there, I'm gonna bring a bucket of water with me."

Nosedive grumbled and reluctantly got out of bed. _Of course Wing scheduled a practice session this morning, what better way to teach me a lesson about being late than to make me get up __**BEFORE**__ dawn. _He started towards his dresser, stepping over the mess that was his floor. _I mean, it's not as if he didn't keep me up late last night __**YELLING**__ at me or something!_

Pulling open a drawer, Nosedive looked at the contents before slamming it shut and heading back towards his bed. After all, Wildwing couldn't _force_ him to practice, could he? _Besides,_ Nosedive thought has he switched off the light and climbed back under the covers, _no one likes morning practices, and Wing owes me valuable sleeping time for last night. What's the worst he could do?_

* * *

"**NOSEDIVE!"**

Nosedive was instantly jerked awake as Wildwing shouted at him. "Wha' do ya wan', bro?"

Wildwing stood there in his practice uniform. "What do I WANT? I WANTED you at practice half-an-hour ago! I WANTED you to get up when I sent Duke in here! I WANTED you to be on time last night! I WANTED you to show me that you can act responsibly! I WANTED a brother I could be proud of! But since you can't seem to do any of that, all I WANT is you on the ice in fifteen minutes ready to go!"

Nosedive watched as Wildwing left to head back up to the rink. As soon as the door was closed, he chucked a baseball at it. _Not proud of me, uh? _Nosedive thought as he got up and grabbed a backpack from his closet. _Fine, you don't have to burden yourself anymore. _He stuffed some clothes into the bag. _You don't have to be DISAPPOINTED ever again! _He added some comics and cash in with the clothes before slinging the pack on his back and heading out the door. _You don't even have to SEE me ever again! _

* * *

So, what do you think? Please review and let me know! Chapter 2 coming soon!


	2. Chapter 2

As promised, here's chapter two. **Disclaimer:** I still don't own the show, characters, etc. Disney does.

* * *

Wildwing paced the floor of the living quarters, glancing at the clock every three seconds. It was almost midnight, and Nosedive still hadn't shown up. Tanya and Duke were out searching for him. Wildwing would still be out, too, if Tanya hadn't insisted that his presence was becoming bothersome. Mallory had offered to stay up with Wildwing until they came back, but had fallen asleep on the couch. Grin was meditating, as usual, and seemed completely calm.

_I wish I had his confidence, _Wildwing thought as he watched the Zen duck. Ever since they had found Nosedive missing, Grin hadn't seemed at all concerned. He believed that his 'little friend' would return to them when he was ready.

Wildwing thought back to earlier that morning, when he found out his brother had left.

* * *

"Let's just start without him," Mallory suggested. They'd already waited forty minutes for Nosedive since practice was _supposed_ to start, and she wasn't in the mood to give him more time, especially since he'd already fallen back asleep once.

"I told him fifteen minutes, and I meant it. If he's not here in five, we can go ahead and start," Wildwing told her. Even if he was angry with his younger brother, he didn't want to practice their new play without him. It would only make it more difficult later.

The team waited a while longer. Finally Tanya checked her watch. "Wildwing, it's been, um seven minutes. I, uh don't think he's coming."

Wildwing sighed. "Fine, let's begin. I'll deal with Nosedive later."

* * *

"He best not still be sleeping," Wildwing commented to Duke as they made their way down to the private quarters. Practice had gone well, but Nosedive hadn't shown up at all.

"Yeah, well, if he is, I can always give 'im that bucket of water I owe 'im." Duke laughed at the thought of Nosedive being pranked for a change.

"Nosedive, you'd best be awake in there," Wildwing called as they reached his brother's door. There was no answer. "Nosedive?" he called again. Silence. "Nosedive, I'm coming in there, and I think it's only fair to warn you that I'm NOT very happy!"

When the pair entered Nosedive's room, they saw the customary décor: drawers left open; clothes, both dirty and clean, tossed in piles across the floor; comic books in messy stacks by the bed; CD's littering the floor around the stereo; fast food wrappers crumpled up and stuffed in various nooks and crannies. The only thing missing was the room's inhabitant.

"Where is he?" Wildwing mumbled as he turned around and headed back towards the living quarters.

"'Ey sweethearts, you two seen Nosedive?" Duke asked Mallory and Tanya as he and Wildwing entered the kitchen.

"Uh, not since last night when he and Wildwing were, uh, you know, going at it," Tanya responded as she headed off towards her lab.

"Mallory?" Wildwing asked.

"Ha! After that little twerp kept us waiting? If I'd seen him you'd have _heard _it!"

"Grin?" Wildwing turned his attention to the large duck who was pouring himself a cup of tea.

"'Since in reality all is void, whereon can the dust fall?'"

"I'd take that as a no," Duke commented.

"Tea?" Grin asked, holding up the pot.

"Uh, no thanks," Wildwing answered. "I really need to find Nosedive."

"Want me to help you look?" Duke offered.

"Thanks, I'd appreciate it. Mallory, are you up for looking?"

"Sure, I'll help you find the little weasel. Then I'll help you pummel him into paste," the redhead answered, punching one hand into the other.

* * *

It had been almost sixteen hours since then, and Wildwing still had no idea where Nosedive could be.

After the search around the Pond had been unsuccessful, Tanya used Drake 1 to track his communicator. The had found it abandoned at the beach. Duke had suggested that perhaps Dragaunus was involved, but Wildwing knew what had happened.

_Nosedive ran away because of me, because I wasn't doing my job,_ he thought to himself for about the hundredth time as Tanya and Duke walked in.

No Nosedive.

"We couldn't find hide or tail-feather of the kid," Duke said as he sunk into a chair.

"Yeah, it's like he, uh, vanished into thin air," Tanya added.

Wildwing slammed a fist against the wall. "He's NEVER been gone this long! Even when we were kids and he'd 'run away,' he'd always be back by the time dinner was ready. Something must have happened to him."

"Yeah, well, you guys aren't kids anymore, are you?" Duke asked rhetorically. "Maybe this time he really means it. I mean, he certainly wasn't _thrilled _with you yellin' at 'im last night. Maybe he needed a break."

"What, are you saying this is my fault? Do you have any _idea_ how hard it is to act as his brother, parents, _and_ captain?"

"Hey, I get that, I do. The kid needs discipline. He's been getting _way _too lax with the rules lately. I was jus' tryin' to reassure you that he's probably _fine_. He jus' doesn't want anything to do with us right now, that's all."

"I don't care if he doesn't want to be with us! He's my brother and _my _responsibility! When I dragged him along on this mission I told Canard I'd take care of him. I'm _not_ going to leave him out there alone all night!"

"Wildwing, it's, like, pitch black out there! Practically everything's closed!" Tanya exclaimed. "We wouldn't know where to look, and there's hardly anyone to interro…intig…uh, question about where he is! We'd be better off waiting until morning, when there's, you know, light and people and stuff."

Wildwing sighed. "I guess there really isn't not much else we can do tonight. Let's go to bed. We could all use some sleep."

Duke noticed the worry in his leader's eyes. "Hey, Wing, don't worry, he can't hide from us forever. We'll find him soon, I'm sure of it."

"I really hope you're right, Duke."

* * *

Well, what did you think? I tried to keep the characters _in character_ as much as possible. Please R&R!


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, first, thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them! Second, I **REALLY **didn't plan on this taking so long! Between packing for college, a backed up sewer (ew!), and writer's block, it's been a bit of a challenge updating. However, I now have it done for your pleasure (hopefully). BTW, Seal Beach _is_ an actual city in California, thrity minutes (approximately) from Anaheim. Since I said in chapter two that the team found Nosedive's communicator at the beach, I figured I should work that in somewhere.

On a side note, when I was puting up chapter two, I forgot to mention that the quote Grin says when Wildwing asks him if he's seen Nosedive _is _from an actual Zen quote. It goes 'Neither is there Bodhi-tree, Nor yet a mirror bright; Since in reality all is void, Whereon can the dust fall?' I think the quote's actually about material objects, but I thought the second part fit well within the context of the story.

Anyways, here is chapter 3. **Disclaimer: **Still don't own anyone or anything.

* * *

Nosedive laid his head against the window of the taxi and watched the landscape fly by. Logically, he knew his plan should work, but he still had some doubts. He wasn't sure how much of a head start he would get before the rest of the team found him missing. Best case scenario, they'd only be a couple hours behind him. Worst case scenario…well, they'd probably be in the Migrator chasing after him right now. Since Nosedive hadn't heard his com go off, he doubted that was the case. Not that he didn't want them tracking him, he just wanted to be a few steps ahead of them.

"Well, this is it," the driver stated interrupting his thoughts. Nosedive got out of the cab.

"Keep it running, would ya? I'll only be a minute," he said to the man.

"Sure kid," he replied. The man wasn't entirely sure he trusted the duck, but figured if the teen ran off without paying, the cops would have an easy time tracking him down.

Nosedive headed out onto the beach. He'd been there once before on an outing with the rest of the team. Nosedive was a bit surprised at the difference. When they'd been there, it was afternoon and the beach was full of people. Now it was still fairly early in the morning and there was hardly anyone around.

He took off his shoes and socks and walked barefoot in the sand, relishing the feeling of it sliding in-between his toes. He thought of the last time he'd been here, when he, Wildwing, and Grin had beaten Duke, Tanya, and Mallory at a sandcastle contest. While watching Mallory and Tanya go off on Duke, Wildwing had told Nosedive how proud he was of him. That day, Wildwing had seemed more like his brother than his captain. _Why can't you be like then, huh Wing?_

The thought of Wildwing reminded Nosedive of why he'd come here to begin with. The ride from Anaheim to the city of Seal Beach was only half an hour. If he wanted to ditch his com before he was found there, he'd better do it. Taking it off his wrist, Nosedive flung it as far as he could. Not bothering to look at where it landed, he put his socks and shoes back on and headed towards the taxi.

* * *

Once he was back in Anaheim, Nosedive wasn't sure what to do. Thinking about it, he questioned the logic of coming back. Most people in the city knew who he was, and with Thrash and Mookie gone, there wasn't anyplace he could really go without worrying about someone reporting back to the team.

Still, he hadn't known where else _to _go. Anaheim was the closest thing to a hometown he had on Earth. He knew he couldn't stay here very long, but deciding where to go to was tricky, and it would be easier to plan if he was in a place he was familiar with. As long as he kept his head down and didn't draw attention to himself…_Ah, who am I kidding, I'm a giant alien DUCK! _

* * *

Nosedive spent the rest of the day trying to stay inconspicuous. He thought he'd done a pretty good job. He had even went so far as to buy himself a rather large hat so less people would recognize him.

His lunch had consisted of popcorn, candy and soda while watching the latest awful -yet enjoyable- sci-fi thriller at the movie theater. Not only the movie entertaining, but the dark room was great for hiding in. Dividing his attention between the screen and the entry, he could easily tell if someone came in looking for him. He'd chosen a seat relatively close to the emergency exit, just in case, but it had proved irrelevant. Nosedive was beginning to wonder if anyone was even searching for him.

Despite this thought, Nosedive didn't want to let his guard down before he got out of town. The teen decided to spend several hours at the library for three reasons: one, he never went there, so he figured it was a spot few people ( if they were looking for him) would check; two, if someone did check it, he would be able to hear them fairly easily and get out of there; three, he wanted to use their resources to try and plan his relocation.

Points one and two were both solid, but he was a little difficulty with number three. The computers had crashed, so that option was out. And since he didn't go to the library, he wasn't familiar with its ordering system, and had trouble finding books on geography. Once he did find them, they weren't much of a help.

_Why are these books so boring?__ I don't want to look at a bunch of maps, I just want to find a nice, quiet place where I can live without being controlled by anyone, especially nosy, _bossy_ brothers! _

"Please!" Nosedive pleaded with the text in front of him. "None of your friends have been of any help, so I want you to give me what I want. I don't want to look at a bunch of boring maps, I just want to find a nice, quiet place where I can live without being controlled by anyone, especially nosy, _bossy _brothers! So I'm going to open you up, and you're going to tell me where to go, capiche?" He covered his eyes with one hand and used the other to open the book to a random page. He looked down and gaped.

"NOT funny!" he stated as he stared at a map of Antarctica. _Oh well,_ he thought as he rested his head in his hand.

_Maybe the penguins will like me._

_

* * *

_

There you have chapter three. I originally planned for this to be a three-part story, so this would have been the last part, but while writing this chapter, I realized I simply could NOT do it! So, I divided the chapter in two. I'm still editing the second part, but it should be up by Friday.

Please Review!


	4. Chapter 4

Last chapter! It's about twice the length of any of the others, so I hope you like it. I'm so excited I got this done before I go to college. I know I've gotten the whole story published in less than a month, which isn't that long, but I was really worried that once I started classes I wouldn't have time to finish it. So I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for all the reviews, I really appreciate them. It's nice to get such positive feedback on my first fic.

**Disclaimer:** Surprisingly, I _do _actually own something! Jenifer is my own character, born from my imagination. However, nothing else, including the Mighty Ducks and IHOP, belong to me.

* * *

Nosedive was at a lost. Practically a whole day gone by, and he still had no clue what his game plan was. Sure, the allure of cute, fuzzy penguins was tempting, but from what he heard, Antarctica was even colder than Puckworld. Used to sunny California, the duck wasn't ready to settle-in for a year-long winter.

To top it off, the sun was beginning to set. With night fast approaching, he had to find someplace he would be able to slumber undisturbed. Anaheim boasted a wide range of hotels, motels, inns, etc.; from the five-star, thousands-of-dollars-a-night suites, to the charge-by-the-hour, pest-infected hovels. Nosedive definitely couldn't afford something top-of-the-notch, not with the cash he had, but he also didn't want to stay somewhere he would have to share his bed with things that crawled. So, going for the most logical choice, he settled on something in-between.

Walking for about twenty minutes, he reached a Comfort Inn. Clean, with a respectable reputation, yet within his price range, it would certainly do. It even had cable.

Nosedive walked into the front lobby, then quickly ran back out. Standing at the front desk were Mallory and Grin! Hoping nobody had seen him, he quickly hid behind some bushes. It was then he noticed the duckcycles in front of the inn. How he had missed them before, he had no clue, but he wasn't _about_ to be caught now.

The young duck stayed in his hiding place until he saw Mallory and Grin leave the inn and drive off on the duckcycles. _Well, __**this **__place is certainly out!_

Nosedive dropped his pack and flopped down on the grass exhausted. It was almost eleven. He'd spent the past few hours in repeats of the Comfort Inn incident. Every time he'd find someplace halfway decent, there were always signs of the other ducks close by. One time he'd even seen _Klegghorn_ at a motel. He wasn't sure if the team would have clued him in on the young mallard's disappearance, but Nosedive wasn't going to take any chances.

By now he'd simply given up hope. Even if he _did_ manage to find somewhere the rest of the team hadn't been, there were no guarantees they wouldn't show up _after_ he'd checked in. No, he wasn't going to be able to have the luxury of a soft, warm bed tonight. He was going to sleep right _here_, in the park, alone.

_At least, I HOPE I'm alone. _The thought ran through his head before he could stop it. Glancing around every which way as fast as his neck could turn, Nosedive began to give himself a headache. He moved to a more remote location between a tree and some shrubs. Using his backpack as a pillow, he stretched himself out, trying to find a comfortable position. Tossing a pine cone out from underneath him, he turned over a few more times before drifting into a restless sleep.

* * *

He could hear chattering around him. Unable to understand the words, he tried blocking it out. It persistently continued.

"Shut up, guys, I'm tryin' to sleep here."

More chattering.

Nosedive rolled over and opened his eyes. He wasn't at the Pond. Confused, he sat up looking around. Streetlights softly illuminated the park. The events from the previous day flooded back into his head as he took in his surroundings.

The chattering was coming from a pair of raccoons scampering across the grass. They seemed immersed in some sort of tag-like game. One would chase the other until it managed to grab the other's tail, then would run like crazy while its friend chased after it.

Nosedive grinned and laughed softly at the creatures game. It reminded him of how he and Wildwing used to torment one another.

_Used to._

A bitter feeling began to creep up his body. The thought of going home crossed his mind, but was quickly dismissed.

_Wildwing said so himself, he's sick of me, he doesn't want me around. He's not proud of me anymore._

Nosedive stretched himself out as he stood up. He grabbed his backpack and walked out onto the path that winded its way through the park. Glancing at his Bernie the Bear watch, he saw it was only 4:23 am.

_Why is it so __**early**__? _

Suddenly his stomach stole his thoughts away from the time. It was complaining _very _loudly. Nosedive realized he hadn't really had a lot to eat yesterday, and _nothing_ for dinner. His stomach groaned again.

"Don't worry, little buddy, I'll get us some food," he whispered, trying to soothe his empty belly with rubbing. It only growled louder.

The duck took one last look at the raccoons before they scampered off into some bushes. _Stupid coons, getting me up so early. Remind me to never be your friend. You guys would be bummers at sleepovers._

Suddenly Nosedive got an idea. His problems were solved! He didn't need to go to Antarctica, he had friends! So what if Thrash and Mookie weren't in Anaheim. He could just go to them.

_Why didn't I think of this before? It's so OBVIOUS! We can all work the comic shop together. It's the perfect job, really. Hangin' out with your buds and sellin' comics, doesn't get better than that. We can open up a new branch in L.A. or someplace big like that so nobody can find me. Yep, we'll be the three amigos, the three musketeers, heck, we could even be the three caballeros! We could…_

His stomach started growling again. It sounded more persistent this time.

Nosedive sighed. "All right, I'll find something to eat."

* * *

A bell rang as the door opened. The IHOP was practically empty at this time of morning. The only customer Nosedive could see was a trucker with a cup of coffee. The aroma of the place was intoxicating. It had a very heavy sweet smell to it, with a few other odors, like coffee, thrown in. His saliva glands started going into overdrive.

"Welcome to IHOP!" A petite brunette waitress greeted the teen. Her hair was done up in bun. Nosedive thought she looked to be in her mid-twenties. Her face was friendly and pretty, except for a light bruise by her left eye. "If you'll come this way." She escorted him to a table by a window.

"My name's Jenifer and I'll be your server," she said as she handed Nosedive a menu. "What can I get you to drink?"

"Uh, orange juice no, chocolate milk well, actually, how about both?" He grinned up at her.

She returned the look. "That's fine. I'll go get that while you decide what you want."

Nosedive turned his attention to the menu. He was starving, and _everything _looked delicious. He grabbed a napkin to wipe away the drool that was starting to leak from his mouth.

"Here we are," Jenifer said as she returned with two glasses. "Do you know what you want?"

Nosedive looked at the menu again. "I think I'll have the…Big Country Fried Steak & Eggs, scrambled. Oh, and could you add blueberries and whipped cream to the pancakes?"

She laughed as she wrote down the order. "Sure, I'll add it onto your bill. Long night?"

Nosedive glanced at her. "Why do you ask?" he questioned defensively.

"Well, you're here before dawn, you seem starved, and you have huge bags under your eyes," she teased.

He smiled. "Yeah, what about _your_ eye decoration?"

She immediately shot a hand to her bruise. "I walked into a door," she said quickly, laughing nervously.

"Oh." There was an awkward silence for a few moments.

"Well, I'll try to have this out for you soon," Jenifer finally said, turning to deliver the order to the cook.

Nosedive sat at his table and looked out the window. He didn't notice the trucker leaving until he saw him getting into his rig outside. The young mallard watched him start up his truck and drive away. With the semi gone, he was able to have a pretty good view of Anaheim. The lights of the city seemed almost magical, their reflections dancing in Nosedive's dim eyes.

"Here we go." Jenifer was back with his order. Nosedive hadn't realized he'd been staring out the window so long. He looked down at his food and then back up to the waitress.

"Is something wrong?" she asked. "I'm pretty sure Frank got your order right."

"You didn't walk into a door, did you?" It was more of a statement than a question, really. Nosedive had been on Earth long enough to discover what 'walking into doors' usually meant.

Jenifer met his gaze and sighed. "It was an accident. My husband's under a lot of stress at work. Sometimes he has too much to drink and loses his temper. It's nothing, really."

"Yeah, well that bruise isn't _nothing_."

"Look, it's my own fault. I know when he's in a bad mood, and I know when he's been drinking. I should really just stay out of his way until it blows over, but sometimes I'm stupid and do things that I know aggravates him. He never means it and is always sorry afterwards."

"Why do you stay with him if he hits you?" Nosedive couldn't understand _how _she could defend her husband's behavior.

"David's a good husband, and a good father. Our son's two. I couldn't ask for a better dad for Nicky."

Still not able to wrap his head around the what she was saying, Nosedive continued. "Couldn't you at least go stay with family with or something? I mean, what if he hits your kid?"

"David would never hit Nicky!" she exclaimed. "Besides, my parents died when I was still in high school. David and Nicky are the only family I have."

"Family," Nosedive repeated softly.

Jenifer gave a slight smile. "That octopus whose tentacles we never quite escape."

Nosedive recognized the quote. She'd said it wrong, but he didn't correct her.

"Well, you'd better eat up before that gets cold," she said as the bell in the front part of the restaurant rang. Heading to greet the customers, she left Nosedive alone with his food.

Although he hadn't eaten a real meal since the day before yesterday, Nosedive's appetite seemed to have vanished. He ate a couple bites of eggs before declaring it a lost cause. He watched as Jenifer led a couple to a booth around the corner. Standing up, he threw a couple of twenties onto the table. One would have covered the cost of the food and tip, but he felt she deserved more.

Nosedive walked out of the restaurant and looked toward the eastern horizon. The sun was just beginning to rise.

* * *

"Okay, we're expanding our search radius. Nosedive could have gotten who knows where by now." Wildwing had a map spread out on the kitchen table. The rest of the team stood around him.

"Should we let Klegghorn know he's missing? It's been twenty-four hours," Duke pointed out.

Wildwing shook his head. "Not yet. I hope we won't have to do that. But if we don't find him soon, we'll let the both the police and the media know so they can start searching for him."

None of the team was thrilled with the idea of Nosedive's disappearance becoming a media circus. At this point, Phil didn't even know he was missing. But whatever they had to do to find him, they would.

"Tanya, you and Grin take the Los Angeles area. Be sure to stop in Sunnyville on your way to talk to Thrash and Mookie. If Nosedive was going to contact anyone, it'd be them. Mallory, you and Duke go…" He let his sentence trial off as the kitchen door slid open.

Nosedive stood in the doorway as the team stared at him. They all looked exhausted. He felt a little ridiculous just standing there, but wasn't sure what to do. No one was making a move.

"Nosedive…" Wildwing finally began.

That was all it took.

Nosedive dropped his bag to the ground and threw himself into his brother. "I love you, man!" he cried as he wrapped his arms around Wildwing neck.

Wildwing wrapped his own arms around Nosedive. "I love you too, baby brother."

Nosedive smiled. The quote from earlier rang in his head complete. _Family - that __**dear**__ octopus whose tentacles we never quite escape, __**nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to.**_

* * *

So, I know the ending's a little cheesy, but I don't think it's **that** bad. Also, before you review (little personal disclaimer here), I want to make it clear I do **NOT**, under any circumstances, support domestic abuse, nor do I believe victims should stay in dangerous situations. However, I was trying to be realistic, and I do know that, sad as it is, many victims stay with their abusers for a variety of reasons. It's not pleasant, but it's reality. So please, no flaming!

Okay, disclaimer done. Please review!


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